The Relationship Between Childhood Trauma and Body Image, Self-Esteem and Eating Attitudes in Patients undergoing Bariatric Surgery

Psychiatric evaluation of candidate patients before bariatric surgery (BS) has an important place in the success of the treatment. In this study, it was aimed to examine the relationship between childhood trauma (CT) and body image, self-esteem and eating attitudes of individuals who applied for BS.

A total of 87 BS candidate patients with morbid obesity, 57 women and 30 men, were included in the study. Sociodemographic Information Form, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), Body Perception Scale (BPS), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), and Eating Attitude Test (EAT-40) were used as data collection tools in the study.

CT was detected in 47.1% of the cases. RSES (t=3.296; p<0.01) and BPS (t=3.267; p<0.01) scores were found to be significantly higher in those with a history of CT. A positive and significant relationship was found between EAT-40 and CTQ -sexual abuse (SA) sub-dimension (r=0.570; p<0.01). A significant relationship was found between all subdimensions of CTQ and RSES. A significant relationship was found between CTQ physical neglect (PN), emotional neglect (EN), and emotional abuse (EA) sub-dimensions and BPS. In addition, CTQ total score was found to significantly and negatively predict self-esteem (β=- 4.432; p<0.001) and body image (β=-3.700; p<0.001).

In our study, it was found that those with CT were dissatisfied with their bodies and had lower self-esteem. Questioning CT in the psychological evaluation of pre-BS cases may contribute to the understanding of the etiology of obesity and may play an important role in planning the follow-up after BS.